


I Hope You Dance

by IceAngelDarkMoon



Category: The Losers (2010), The Losers (Comic), The Losers - All Media Types
Genre: Established Relationship, Eventual Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Pre-Slash, Schmoop, suprise military reunion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-23
Updated: 2014-06-26
Packaged: 2018-02-05 20:17:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1830961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceAngelDarkMoon/pseuds/IceAngelDarkMoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You know I want to do that one day.” Jensen said, he always wanted to pull one of those surprise soldiers’ reunions for his niece. Then Bolivia happened, and Jensen realizes that dream is never going to happen, not now. However, Cougar and Jolene know how to work miracles, and maybe if they are all very lucky, dreams will get to come trune</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fragile Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Timeline jumps a little, starting before the events of the movie and then following the aftermath of the movie.
> 
> Title of the fic is taken from the song with the same name by Lee Ann Womak.

“You know I want to do that one day.” Jensen said suddenly from the table where he was working. Pooch and Cougar were sitting watching the TV and had almost forgotten that Jensen was working behind them; well not really Cougar, as he always knew where Jensen was, but Pooch had almost completely tuned out the mindless muttering behind them.

“Dude, you do know you have to have sex with a woman to have kids right?” Pooch teased as he watched the reunion on the screen. A Marine father had just surprised his young daughter at her karate belt testing; she didn’t think he would be home for another few months. She had run across the room and launched herself in her father’s arms and was sobbing and laughing at the same time.

“No you don’t; science allows for lots of other ways to become a parent. Plus, give it a few more years and even Cougs and I could have a kid together.” Pooch choked at that and turned to look back at Jensen over the back of the couch. But the tech was back to typing on his computer and not looking at the TV.

“I am not giving birth.” Cougar muttered loud enough for both men to hear. A small smile tugged at the corner of Jensen’s mouth, but he still didn’t look up from the computer. Cougar had the impression that Jensen was making sure not to look at them.

“That’s fine, sweetheart, we both know that you would be the papí in our relationship.” He finally looked up and gave an exaggerated wink at Cougar with a smirk, then promptly returned to his screen.

Ducking his head down a bit to hide the amusement he knew was in his eyes, Cougar wondered why it had been him that Jensen had chosen to mention as his fictitious co-parent. They had been best friends from the moment Cougar had thrown and pinned Jensen’s large frame to the ground when he tried to touch The Hat upon meeting the Losers. From that moment, Jensen had been the best at interpreting Cougar’s many silences and facial tics, and the best at keeping the nightmares in his head away. In return, Cougar had made sure Jensen’s natural disregard for his own safety never caused any lasting harm, which was a much bigger challenge than he had thought it would be. Lately though, Cougar could tell that something was just the slightest bit off between them, they were just a half of a beat off when they moved; not enough for the others to notice, but Cougar knew.

“See this is why Clay keeps reminding you of DADT.” Pooch just shook his head and looked like he was trying to delete Jensen’s previous statement from his memory.

“Clay just doesn’t appreciate my excellent taste in clothing, or my naturally tactile nature. Besides to answer your earlier insult, I have had sex with women and I still don’t have any kids. Not that I want any, even if Cougar were offering to co-parent with me. I am not responsible enough to take care of myself, how could I care for another living thing?” Pooch gave a snort of laughter at this.

While Cougar knew that Jensen had slept with women, and still tried to, there was something about the idea that did not sit well with him. He was just starting to wonder if maybe Jensen was like him, and attracted to both women and men, but he was distracted as Jensen muttered something quietly to himself. Cougar was certain that Pooch hadn’t heard, but he had. It sounded like Jensen had continued with, “And I wouldn’t want to pass my genes to the poor bastards.” Cougar frowned at that, and tucked the comment away to ask Jensen about later.

“Anyway, I meant for my niece. I would love to surprise her like that. I was thinking maybe popping out of a mascot’s uniform or something. But we would actually have to get some leave time for that to even work.” Cougar felt a smile tug at his lips as he could picture Jensen in some animal uniform and taking the head off to reveal himself to Jewel.

“I hear you man, it is so not fair that I spend more time you bastards than my own wife.” And just like that the conversation moved on, and they never spoke of it again. But the information as carefully stored in the back of Cougar’s mind, while some of his new questions stayed at the forefront of his mind.

* * *

It was just one month later that Cougar and Jensen began something that would require them not to “Tell” Clay or the rest of the Losers anything. But Cougar was glad to note that they were again moving to the same beat. They had six months with this new arrangement, and then Bolivia happened.

It was the worst time of his whole life, but Cougar knew that it would have been infinitely worse if he had not had Jensen beside him. When they had watched the chopper explode, something inside Cougar broke. He shut down and everything around him became a blur. Slowly though he found his way back and there was Jensen. All the guys were dealing with the loss, of not just the children but their lives, in very different ways. He and Jensen had each other, Pooch hung onto the thought of seeing Jolene again, and Clay and Roque held onto the belief that things could be made right.

They still kept their thing from the other guys. While they never spoke about it, they both knew that it would be too painful to get used to being open about themselves only to have to hide it again when they returned to the army. It would have been a lot harder to hide all the reassuring looks and touches that they both needed in those first few weeks, if the others hadn’t been dealing with their own pain. The best thing for the two though was the fact that the team had decided to split up where they were living, and since Jensen and Cougar had been inseparable before, no one had batted an eye when they again roomed together and worked together. The nightmares were never as bad when they could share a bed for the whole night; even if they always made sure the other one appeared slept in just in case the other Losers ever barged in unannounced.

But the hiding meant they had to keep up pretenses and expected behaviors that they had established before. This meant Cougar had to keep flirting and kissing girls when the guys were out with them, and Jensen had to at least keep trying his luck. Cougar had felt his heart nearly stop when Jensen had done his awful attempt on Aisha. He knew that was one of the best ways to keep the others from figuring things out. Roque was already starting to ask Cougar how he was coping without all the girls he usually had around him. Thankfully Cougar had never been one to speak what was on his mind, as it was very tempting to tell Roque just how long it had actually been since Cougar had wanted those girls. Jensen just teased Roque that he wasn’t observant enough to notice when Cougar snuck out at night. Roque had just eyed them both suspiciously, and a bit worriedly, as he could not tell if Jensen was joking or not.

Then the port of Los Angeles had happened, and Roque had burned them all. While he knew that some part of him should be mourning the loss of a friend, and the actions he had been forced to take, Cougar had felt no regret when he pulled the trigger and caused the explosion that ended Roque. He could understand leaving the team, hell he could even understand turning on them, but to take away their right to die in a fight, that was something Cougar could not forgive. No man wants to die kneeling in front of his enemies, much better to be shot in the back by a traitor than that.

They were all still feeling the high of surviving when they ditched the stretched yellow hummer for more practical vehicles. Having survived and stopped one of Max’s plans had been a buzz, but Cougar knew it would hit them all very soon what had transpired and the consequences of it. So when Clay suggested that they split up and rendezvous in a week just outside Pooch’s hometown, Cougar was the first to agree. It ended up with Clay taking Pooch and making sure he healed, Aisha heading off to get in touch with some of her contacts, and Cougar to look after Jensen as he pulled everything together to start new identities for his sister, niece, and Jolene.

It was three nights later when it finally all hit Jensen and Cougar had been there to pick up the pieces, just like Jensen had done for him in Bolivia. Cougar had been reading on their bed (and wasn’t that a nice thought, they hadn’t had to pretend to have a second bed), with Jensen’s fingers flying over the keys of his laptop with the television playing quietly in the background.

“Oh, shit.” Jensen whispered, his fingers falling suddenly silent. Cougar had immediately dropped his book and looked around for danger. But when he glanced at Jensen he could see the pain radiating off the tech’s face and the next moment he was kneeling next to Jensen.

“Just, fuck. Fuckity, fuck, fuck. FUCK.” He continued as he buried his face in his hands. Cougar glanced at the computer, but nothing looked out of place. Then he glanced at the television and saw it was on a story about another military reunion, and he felt his heart twist uncomfortably in his chest. He tugged Jensen out of the computer chair and sat them both down on the edge of the bed, pulling Jensen to his chest while he traced comforting circles on Jensen’s back. Jensen just continued to curse quietly for a few minutes before falling silent, but still clutching to Cougar as if his life depended on it.

“They’re never going to take us back are they?” He finally asked after taking a deep breath. His face was still buried in Cougar’s chest. Cougar knew he could lie or pretend he didn’t know that Jensen meant the military, but that wasn’t who he was.

“No.” The hands on his back pulled tighter for a moment, and then relaxed. Jensen gave a small sigh then pulled away. He didn’t look at Cougar, instead he looked down at his hands in his lap where they began to fidget.

“I know it is silly, but I never let myself think about what would happen if we couldn’t clear our names.” He gave a sad laugh that was worse than the false bravado that Jensen sometimes used when they had been captured. “I never even considered that there might not be the Losers one day.” Cougar reached over and grasped one of Jensen’s hands and gave it a light squeeze before he started tracing circles against the back of it with his thumb.

“You know it was stupid, but I kept telling myself that once we got back into the Army I would start planning that surprise reunion for Jewel. I think that was the idea that kept me going in Bolivia; that at least at the end of this I could look forward to that.” He shook his head sadly, but let Cougar keep holding his hand. “Now I have to tell them that they will have to move, leaving everything they knew behind, including their names. I guess I suck at surprises, huh?” Jensen joked half heartedly.

“Ellas son fuertes.” Cougar reassured him, the two would deal with this. They would be happy to know that Jensen was still alive. Jensen looked up then and met his eyes. There was a tight clench to Jensen’s jaw, and some tears in his eyes that he refused to let fall. It hurt a bit that even with just Cougar there, Jensen couldn’t let any real weakness show. Cougar pulled him back into a hug, and again Jensen clung to him like a drowning man, his head tucked into the crook of Cougar’s neck and shoulder.

“It’s such a silly thing to have hoped for; it just hurts to realize it’s never going to happen.” Jensen confessed to Cougar’s neck. Even if Cougar had been better with words, he was not sure there was anything he could have said in that moment to help. It just made Cougar wonder if there was any way he could make that dream come true one day, but for this night he just held Jake tight.

There was one advantage to knowing they were never going to return to the military. While Cougar did not like people knowing anything about his private life, he knew Jensen wished he could be more open about their relationship, and that was something Cougar could accept, especially if it made Jake happy.

So it was a surprise to everyone when after they had met up and discussed how to get Pooch to Jolene in the hospital, that when Cougar went to leave for his position he had leaned over and kissed Jake on the cheek and gave his shoulder a squeeze. Clay, Pooch, and Aisha had turned into statues of fish, with their mouths and eyes wide. Jensen had looked at him with the unspoken question in his eyes, “Are you sure?” Cougar had given him a small smile and a nod, and then left the room. Just because he had just announced in his own way that he and Jake were together didn’t mean he had to be the one to deal with all the questions!


	2. I'm Coming Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cougar and Jolene have been working in secret and the three Jensens are going to benefit from the sneakiness. Basically there is so much fluff your teeth may root a bit!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spanish translations are at the end for those that need them. 
> 
> This was supposed to be a lot shorter, but the bastards took control of their story. It is a bit OOC but hopefully you can overlook this in favor of the general fluffiness that pervaded this chapter.

It took them another two and a half years to finally track down and kill Max (and Roque…again). In the aftermath they were never sure if Aisha died or moved on to fight a new war. Similarly, they were never sure if Clay died in the compound, either by Max or Aisha’s hands, or if he followed Aisha. In truth Clay had left the team long before they entered that compound. Pooch came through mostly unscathed, the advantage of being the get-away driver. Cougar almost flat lined several times during their extraction flight. It was never clear how Jensen had gotten them both out or how he was able to keep Cougar alive until they reached a hospital. When Cougar was stable enough to ask Jensen if he had been injured, Jensen had only replied that he had had worse, and that chicks dig scars. He received the infamous Cougar glare for that and a slap upside the head courtesy of Pooch, acting on Cougar’s unspoken order.

Just three days later Cougar checked himself out of the hospital. After a rather half-hearted argument that it was too soon for him to leave, Cougar silenced Jensen with a kiss and a reminder of all the loose ends they still needed to tie up. After that Jensen wasn’t aware of very much except to register Pooch or Cougar helping to guide him into the next mode of transport along their journey. Occasionally food would appear in front of him and he accepted without really noticing what he ingested. It was only when he almost passed out mid word for the fourth time that he allowed Cougar to guide him to some sort of bed. The next time he woke it was mid-afternoon and Cougar was talking to someone at the door.

“Huh, whazit?” He asked, apparently his tongue was still asleep. Cougar just smiled at him for a moment before turning and hanging two garment bags in the closet next to the door. Still not answering his question, Cougar pulled a Styrofoam take out box out of the mini-fridge and popped it in the microwave. He also flicked on the coffee machine.

“If there is coffee for me as well I would love you forever.” Jensen mumbled his eyes now only for the burbling machine, rather than the jean covered hips he had been following before. He only glanced up at Cougar when there was no response; he was met with a raised eyebrow that clearly was not amused by this sentence.

“I mean, I clearly meant more than I already do of course. I would have said I would bear your children, but I think we already discussed that I am just not mommy material.” Jensen was surprised by a slightly smug smirk on Cougar’s lips. “And you can’t even get me ‘accidentally’ pregnant to try and change my mind.” He of course used his hands to add the air quotes.

“Come.” Cougar ordered in Spanish as he set the reheated food in front of Jensen. Then he returned a moment later with a wonderful cup of coffee for each of them.

“You are the best boyfriend ever.” Jensen gushed, and placed a quick kiss on Cougar’s cheek, before breathing in the steam from his mug. Again that smug smirk appeared.

“So not to look a gift Cougar in the mouth, or whatever, but who was at the door and what is in the bags? I thought we were officially done with missions.” He asked between mouthfuls of his breakfast burrito.

“One more.” That smirk had taken up permanent residence on Cougar’s face, and now Jensen was officially curious. He shoved the last massive bite in his mouth.

“Ok, finished. What’s up?” Cougar just shook his head fondly as he watched Jensen struggle to swallow that bite. Then he pulled out his cell phone. It was one of those old flip phones that has a specially ability to pretend to be a brick as well as a phone. Jensen had tried many times to get Cougar to upgrade, but he did concede that the thing was practically indestructible. Also it was so obsolete in design with no useable parts, so Jensen had never tried to take it apart or improve it. Which he realized, as Cougar flipped through menus, meant things could be hidden from him there.

“Escucha. And no interrupting.” With that Cougar laid it on the table and sat down next to Jensen. Surprisingly, Cougar reached out and held his hand, and Jensen couldn’t decide if that was a good or bad sign, and he hadn’t decided by the time a voice came from the phone.

“Now what was that you were asking me before? I wasn’t listening.” It took a moment for Jensen to realize that it was Jolene’s voice.

“It’s alright Mrs. Linwood. I was asking if you knew when Uncle Jake will be back next.” It was Jewel, his niece’s voice. It struck Jensen then that Jolene had recorded this conversation, most likely without his niece knowing, as there was the sound of fabric rubbing over the speaker.

“No sweetheart. You know they don’t usually tell us until they are on their way back. Why, was there a specific reason you wanted to know?”

“Promise you won’t tell mom or Uncle Jake.” There was a pause, and some more ruffling of fabric, which he inferred meant Jolene had nodded her head.

“It’s the ‘Daddy Daughter’ dance at the school in a couple of weeks, and I was hoping Uncle Jake could take me. He’s better than a dad any day.” Jensen felt his breath catch in his throat; Cougar gave his hand a small squeeze. “Plus he would make all the other girls jealous.” The two females shared a laugh at this.

“But why don’t you want your uncle or mother to know?

“If mom knew for sure she would mention it to Uncle Jake. And if he knew he would want to be here and would be upset that he couldn’t make it. I don’t want to bother him while he and the team are off doing dangerous things. He has enough to worry about without me. So please don’t tell my mom or uncle?”

“I won’t. Are you still going to go to the dance?”

“Maybe. Mom doesn’t want me to miss out, and the school said she could take me, since it is just the two of use.” The recording stopped there and Jensen found himself at a loss for words. Cougar was gently tracing circles on the back of his hand.

“I never knew she thought of me as a sort of father figure.” He could not get that awe inducing thought out of his head.

“When was the dance?” He asked in a pained voice as he recalled the rest of the message. He turned to look at Cougar and received a huge smile in return. Then standing up from the chair, Cougar strode across the room and returned with one of the garment bags.

“Tonight.” He held out the garment bag for Jensen, who took it mutely, just staring at it. Cougar then pulled down the zipper to show Jensen his old dress greens. “You get your reunion surprise; Jewel and Jillian don’t know.”

Several hours later found Jensen standing nervously behind a curtain at the hall where the dance was being held. Cougar was seated at a table with a jacket thrown over his dress uniform, beret tucked in a pocket, holding a video camera to record the reactions of the three Jensens.

It had taken them a little longer than usual to get ready for the evening. As Jensen had only had time to completely clear Pooch's files, they needed to use aliases, which Cougar had planned for. He had a smug smile on his face when he presented the two new name-tags to Jensen. Cougar only pretended to allow Jensen to choose between the Rogers and Barnes tags, but they both knew that Jensen would be Rogers and Cougar, Barnes. Jensen beamed and muttered something about "Stucky feels,” before teasing Cougar that he had only chosen Barnes because “Bucky was a Sergeant like you.”

“Who the Hell is Bucky?” Cougar deadpanned in response, Jensen blinked several times before an even larger smile stole across his face lighting it up.

“You sneaky bastard! You are a secret comic book nerd aren’t you?” Jensen accused, but he was kissing Cougar before the other man could answer. Then he proceeded to (carefully due to Cougar’s still healing bullet wounds) show how appreciative he was.

It felt strange to be once again wearing their dress uniforms. Both hung a bit looser than they had back a few years yearly, as they had lost some muscle mass while on the lam. But thankfully it was nothing noticeable. Jensen decided to shave off his goatee and wear his contacts to help look more like a legitimate army man (and if it helped him look more like Captain Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, neither he nor Cougar were going to mention it). Cougar's only concession for the evening was to trim his goatee a little and pull his hair back into a low ponytail, which would be hidden when he pulled his beret back on.

Under instructions from Jolene, who had helped Cougar set the whole thing up (including stealing their old dress uniforms from Jillian’s house and delivering them to the hotel), the school was inviting Jewel and another girl up on stage with their mothers. They were each going to be given a chance to talk about their missing fathers. The other girl’s father had died from a heart attack three years earlier. Jensen tried to listen, but all he could think was that Jewel and Jillian were less than 10 feet away from him, and he hadn’t seen them in almost 9 months. Then it was Jewel’s turn to speak.

“So Jewel, did you want to tell us about your dad?” The principal of the school asked. Jensen couldn’t tell if she was being intentionally obtuse, or not.

“I never knew my dad; he died before I was born.” Her voice rang out amplified over the crowd. There room was surprisingly quiet considering it was packed with young girls and their fathers (and other family members). “But it is ok, my Uncle Jake told my mom that he would do everything he could to help with me. He’s been there my whole life, helping us out. He taught me science and computers and how to protect myself. He’s the reason I can fix all of your phones.” There were some soft laughs from some of the girls in the crowd. Jensen just hoped she wasn’t breaking parental locks for the other girls, or else Jillian would tan his hide for that!

“He’s kind of like having a dad and a big brother all rolled up in one. When he can make it to one of my soccer games, he cheers the loudest. And he gives the best hugs. I wish I could see him more often; he works in the Army doing super cool and secret things, so I don’t get to see him that often and I miss him. And I know he is super awesome, but I worry about him. There was a time where he almost didn’t come home and…” She took a moment to pause there and Jensen had to take a couple of deep breaths to try and keep the tears out of his eyes. He knew she loved him, but it was another thing to hear it articulated so clearly. It also warmed his heart that he could finally tell her and Jillian they no longer had to worry about that horrible knock on the door and the triangle folded flags, they had already survived that once.

“He is my hero, and he is protecting all of us. But I wish he were here.” She finished softly. There was a loud applause from the audience, but before it died down the principal was talking in the microphone again.

“So what will you do when you see him next?” The principal asked, and Jesnen prepared himself to head out on the stage, it was just about time.

“I’d run up to him and hug him, and he would swing me around like he always does.” And then Jake was stepping out from behind the curtain. Jillian and Jewel were facing away from him, towards the audience. But as the audience saw him, and his uniform, gasps escaped, and people started pointing, and Jewel finally turned around. The first thought Jensen had is that she looks so grown up, and he can’t believe how much she has changed in just a handful of months. Her face lights up as soon as she sees him, and is running towards him before Jillian has even turned around. She jumped and Jensen caught her easily, and pulled her to his chest. She was laughing and crying at the same time, burying her face in his neck, and he spun them around, making her legs kick out a bit, and her laughs increased.

“Hey Gremlin.” He whispered to Jewel, using her nickname from when she was a baby and Jillian had left very specific instructions on how Jensen was to care for her. It had reminded him a bit too much of the instructions for how to care for a gremlin, and true to his nature he had fed Jewel after midnight!

“Uncle Jake, are you really here?” There was a small quiver to her voice, as if she expected this to all be a dream and it to fade away in a moment. Jensen couldn’t resist, and gave her a small pinch and felt her jerk and squeak in his arms and then swat his shoulder lightly, but she never moved from where her face was buried in his neck.

As Jensen stopped turning, Jillian was there, hugging them both. She had tears falling down her face, but was smiling and laughing with them. Jensen freed one of his arms to pull her closer. The moment was perfect, well almost, there is just one person missing.

“You jerk. You know I hate crying in public.” Jillian griped.

“Missed you, too.” He teased, and when she ducked closer he whispered in her ear, just loud enough that Jewel could also hear, but no one else. “We got him, Max is gone. It’s over.”

It was clear that if Jensen’s arm had not been around Jillian’s waist she would have collapsed to the stage, as her knees gave way in response to Jensen’s news. For a split second it looked as if she would start crying harder in relief, but instead her eyes snapped to the crowd of young girls and their families. Her eyes quickly swept the crowd frantically searching for something. Cougar, in the back realized it might be him, and he lowered the video camera to wave a hand slightly. Jillian’s desperate eyes instantly flickered to him and she smiled, only then giving in to her tears of relief. Without looking away from him she motioned for him to join them on stage. Glancing at Jensen, Cougar saw his brilliant smile and a slight nod of encouragement.

Cougar sighed and then leaned over to the family that was sharing their table. He quickly handed them the camera and motioned to his uniform as he slid his jacket off and pulled back on his beret. The father nodded in understanding and gave Cougar a shooing motion to join the Jensens on stage. As Cougar reached the stage he saw Jake whisper something to Jillian as she made to pull away and greet Cougar. She frowned and glanced at Jake sharply, before nodding and pulling free to run the last bit to Cougar. When she reached him she grasped his hand and squeezed tightly before pulling him into a surprisingly soft hug. It took Cougar a moment to realize that Jensen must have whispered about his injuries to her. Cougar sighed and pulled Jillian closer with a small smile. It would be worth the small pain to get a real hug. Jillian and Jewel were his family; he loved them more than he had ever loved the people he had been raised with.

When Jillian finally pulled away, Cougar glanced past her to Jewel and Jake. Jewel refused to let go of her Uncle Jake, but was holding out her hand to Cougar. He was not strong enough to resist, even if he had wanted to. He reached out and hugged both Jewel and Jensen, as it was impossible to hug only Jewel in that position. He then leaned back to place a soft kiss to Jewel’s cheek as he whispered, “Hola, Joyita.”

“Hola, Sr. Cougar.” She whispered back almost shyly as she buried herself back in Jake’s neck.

It was only after hearing Jewel speak again that Jensen realized they were still on the stage in front of an audience. Glancing around he saw that the rest of the attendees of the dance were still watching them. The principal was talking and seeing Jensen’s look started walking over to them.

“We are all so excited to see you and thank you for your service to our country. Is there anything you would like to say?” The principal held out the microphone, obviously expecting Jensen to take it. The principal was also shooting curious looks at Cougar, who was standing just behind Jensen and Jewel.

“I’m just so happy to be here with my two favorite girls.” Jensen started and smiled down at Jewel. “I’m also very lucky to have one of my teammates, Carlos, here to celebrate with us. I would not have made it back home from my tour if he hadn’t saved my life several times. He and Jolene, another teammate’s wife, worked together in secret to set this surprise up. I only found out I would get to be up here surprising these two,” he gestured to Jillian and Jewel, “a couple of hours ago! So it was a wonderful surprise for me as well.” He heard some of the people in the audience aww at this. “So right now I believe I am the luckiest man alive, and I can’t wait to embarrass Jewel with my dancing.” That received the expected laugh from the crowd and a smack to the shoulder from Jewel. Jensen handed the microphone back and started to lead his family off the stage.

Honestly, Jensen thought that this was the best day of his life. Even better than when Jewel was born, mostly because as happy as that day was it was still bittersweet as it was so close to when Mark, Jillian’s husband and Jensen’s friend, had died and he should have been there with them that day. This felt so much like a dream, especially with Cougar grinning and bumping their shoulders together, that Jensen was afraid that he was going to wake up any moment and be bleeding out from a bullet wound back at Max’s compound. He might have pinched himself just to make sure he really was awake.

During the dinner part of the night the adults let Jewel chatter away, catching Jensen and Cougar up on all that they had missed. Jensen joined in of course, as he could never stay quiet, but Cougar and Jillian were more content to just watch and listen. It helped to forget that Jillian would want to know what had happened with Max and the rest of the team, but besides assuring her that Pooch was fine, they could not talk about any of that here.

After the meal the music started. However, it seemed to be an awful mix of teeny-bopper pop and really sentimental songs about dads and daughters. Jewel was not impressed and did not drag Jensen off to dance because she refused to, in her own words, “dance to crappy misogynistic shit.” Jillian just warned her about her language and Jensen had give Jewel a covert high five under the table. He then took out his smart phone and began typing away with a grin that Cougar recognized as his, “I am hacking something I shouldn’t be able to hack but am succeeding anyway” grin. After a few minutes the sound system in the hall cut out for a moment, then came back on with “She Blinded Me with Science.” Jewel squealed in delight and grabbed Jensen’s hand to drag him to the dance floor.

“Our song.” Jewel squeaked as she pulled Jensen away. Cougar just shook his head at them. The rest of the young girls looked around at each other in confusion, clearly never having heard the song before. But a couple of the fathers smiled in recognition and kept their daughters out on the dance floor. Jewel and Jensen were rocking out in the middle of the dance floor, both attempting to sing along. They were flailing enough that there was a circle of space around them. When that song ended, the first notes of the next song had Jillian shoving the video camera back at Cougar.

“You are going to want to record this,” she said evasively as she stood and rushed over to her brother and daughter. Just as he had turned the power on Cougar realized that the song was “The Safety Dance,” and he smirked. Jillian had joined the other two and they were all jumping and singing along. Then they started doing the dance from the music video, where they just randomly form an “S” with their arms. The next thing he knew, they had started a parade around the room of everyone jumping and dancing and randomly throwing the “S” sign. Most of the dads and daughters looked slightly confused, but there were enough happy grins to show that at least some of them knew where the dance came from. Cougar tried not to shake the camera when he started to laugh when Jensen got the Principal the join the dance.

There was a longer pause between that song and the next, and Cougar realized that Jensen had his phone out again. With a glance to the DJ, Cougar could see that the other man was getting angry at his equipment and trying to figure out why it was playing songs that weren’t even on his playlist. When a subdued guitar and drums started, Cougar realized that Jensen had handed back over the control to the other man. Cougar was just turning off the camera when he felt a tug at his sleeve. Looking up he saw Jewel standing in front of him looking a little shy.

“Would you dance with me Sr. Cougar? Uncle Jake said you probably would if I asked you nicely.” Cougar smiled as he took her hand gently. She smiled brightly and tugged him out to where Jillian and Jensen were dancing together. He took both of Jewel’s hands and then started them shifting back and forth as he listen to the lyrics to “I Hope You Dance.” As the music swelled Cougar let go of one hand and twirled Jewel, and because she giggled and smiled so much he did it again immediately. As he looked up he caught Jensen’s eye over Jillian’s shoulder as she leaned against him. There was a soppy happy smile on his face, which if it had happened a few years before Cougar would have been worried about, but now it just made his heart swell. Jensen turned he and his sister, so that his back was to Cougar, and clearly leaned to whisper something into her ear which caused her head to pop up and look at Jensen. Cougar knew Jensen had turned so that he couldn’t read Jensen’s lips, so instead he tried to read Jillian’s face, while still dancing with Jewel. However, Jillian must have realized that Cougar might do this and she ducked her head back down to Jensen’s shoulder. Jewel pulled his attention away from trying to figure out what the two older Jensens were up to, and Cougar made sure to twirl the girl again.

He had expected to go back to sitting down when Jewel wanted to go back to her Uncle Jake, but the others clearly did not agree. As the song ended, Jillian and Jake came over and all four danced together for the next few songs, much more upbeat ones that Cougar was pretty sure he had not heard before. When the next slow song came on, this one clearly meant for Daddy/Daughter dancing at weddings something about “Butterfly Kisses,” Cougar was surprised when Jillian took his hand. Jewel had latched onto Jensen, and was hugging him while she stood on his feet and let him shift them around the floor. Jillian linked one set of their hands, and then placed her free one on his shoulder, and Cougar placed his other one on her waist and started leading them.

“So did you really plan all of this for him,” She asked after a moment. There was a soft smile on her face, and she was glancing past Cougar to where Jewel and Jensen were dancing.

“Sí,” Cougar answered simply. He had always liked Jillian, she reminded him of a softer and slightly more relaxed version of Jake.

“You know I always imagined that one day I would have to give some guy the talk about what would happen if he ever broke Jake’s heart, but,” she cut herself off with a small shake to her head and smile. Cougar quirked his eyebrow at her, clearly asking her to elaborate. “I knew the moment he video chatted with me after meeting the team that he had it bad for you. I was so worried for him; especially with as bad as his previous team had treated him. And I was worried what this sniper that had half the base terrified of him would do if he knew how my silly brother felt. But then you visited us with him and I knew it would be alright. The rest of the team seemed like they had gotten used to him, but it was you that settled it for me. I could tell from the way that you looked at him, even back then, that you would look after him.” Cougar knew there was still more, but he felt the corner of his lip twitch up at Jillian’s early trust in him.

“When you two started dating while you were still in the Army I was so worried for both of you, and I still thought that I would have to give you the talk when you next visited. But then Bolivia.” She trailed off and looked sad for a moment. Cougar was surprised to find out that Jensen had told his sister about them. “Before that, I figured it out because when we Skyped it was the happiest I had seen him since he was 4 years old. He is so good at looking cheerful but he hasn’t been properly happy since then, at least not until you. I was so worried that he would never make it home after you guys started your hunt. Worse I was so afraid of what would happen if he came home without you. It would have broken him.” She stated it with such conviction that Cougar knew she had spent a lot of time thinking about it. Everything she was telling him was so overwhelming Cougar wasn’t sure what to say.

“So thank you for keeping him safe and brining both of you home. I’m so glad he has you.” There were some tears gathering in her eyes, but she didn’t let them fall. Instead she stood on her tiptoes and kissed Cougar’s cheek softly. It took him a moment to figure out what he could say to that.

“I’m the lucky one.” He said softly, his accent strong as he struggled to keep his voice under control. Jillian shook her head fondly and they went back to dancing.

After the song ended the four went back to dancing as a group for several more songs, and switching up who was dancing together on some of the slower songs. While Don’t Ask Don’t Tell had been repealed in their time hunting Max, Jensen and Cougar were careful to keep some distance between each other. They realized that the uniforms and overt displays of their affection was something that would bring more attention than they wanted, or could afford. So when Jillian and Jewel started to dance together during one of the slow songs, they decided to take a break. Cougar offered to grab the girls’ new drinks, and Jensen said he needed to run to the toilet. When Cougar returned to the table with the drinks and Jensen wasn’t there he didn’t think anything about it. However, when Jillian and Jewel returned to the table at the end of the song and Jake wasn’t there Cougar began to glance around.

“I think I saw him duck outside.” Jillian whispered to Cougar as she pointed to a door that lead out to the terrace. Cougar nodded and then stood and followed where Jensen had gone. He knew what the other man could get up to without him around, and Jensen was certainly up to something. When he pushed the door open, he saw Jensen startle slightly where he was leaning against the railing of the terrace looking out over the garden that stretched out below.

“Hey Cougs.” He greeted as he turned so that instead of leaning against his arms, his back now leaned against the rail. He held out his arms to Cougar, and with a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure that they would not be visible from window in the door, Cougar went to him. The taller man wrapped him tightly in his arms and let out a sigh that tickled Cougar’s ear. Cougar pulled back just enough to look at Jensen’s face at that, there was certainly something up now.

“Thank you so much for all of this, I meant it earlier when I said I was the luckiest guy.” Jensen said easily, clearly ignoring Cougar’s suspicious look. He then ducked and kissed Cougar gently and almost chastely. Cougar realized that it would be a very bad spot to do anything more since a little girl could wander out at any time. Jensen pulled back just far enough to look at Cougar, and keep his arms loosely around the sniper.

“I have something that I really want to say, and I…I think I can only say it once so I was hoping you could let me finish before you say anything, since I know how talkative you are.” Jensen turned it into a joke, but Cougar could hear the nervousness sneaking into what Jensen was asking. Looking carefully at Jake’s face, trying to determine if this was going to be a good or bad talk, Cougar realized the only thing he could do was agree to listen like usual. He nodded and waited for the blond to continue. Jake took a deep breath and then began speaking.

“Tonight has helped me realize some things, some things that I couldn’t really let myself think about while I wasn’t sure if we would ever be able to come home. But now that we are here and we survived, and you pulled all this together for me, I know. I’m really shit at saying what I am really thinking without babbling or adding random facts, so you had better be listening to this.” Cougar’s lip twitched at this but he kept watching Jensen’s face carefully, and Jensen gave him a shaky smile and took another breath before continuing.

“Since we met I have been so proud to serve in the same unit as you. It has been my honor to be your friend during the past five years. Even better it was my absolute privilege to be your lover for these past few years. And,” here Jake pulled his hands away from Cougar. “It is my greatest wish to spend the rest of my life with you.” Here Jake pulled out his keys from his pocket and grabbed onto a Captain America shield USB drive. With careful fingers he pried it open and then dropped to one knee in front of Cougar before Cougar could look at what was in the secret compartment. “So Carlos Alvarez, will you marry me and be my sexy super awesome sniper of badassery forever?”

Holding out his hands, Cougar could see a beautiful simple ring tucked into that secret compartment in the key chair. Jensen was looking up at him with a cheeky smile, but his eyes showed how worried he still was. Cougar felt his heart still for a moment as he realized that Jake really was proposing to him. All the words he could have said seem to flee from him. He knew that when he was really upset words disappeared from his mind, but this was the only time they had ever done that because he was so happy. So he did the only thing he could think of until his words returned to him. He reached down and pulled Jensen up and kissed him fiercely, willing the other man to understand all the words he couldn’t say, all the sentiments that he reciprocated to the ones that Jake had just confessed. After some time, it could have been minutes or hours, he pulled back just enough to rest their foreheads together and Cougar could lock eyes with Jake. Jake was panting harshly and there was a pink flush high on his cheekbones, and Cougar was reminded just how gorgeous his lover was. He pulled Jakes left hand up and kissed the ring finger where one day soon Jake would wear a ring marking him forever as Cougar’s. He heard Jake’s breath catch in his throat at the gesture.

“So is that a yes then?” Jensen asked breathlessly as he locked eyes with Cougar again. There was the start of a smile on his kiss bruised lips, but still a little uncertainty.

“Sí. Te amo por siempre y para siempre.” He felt a wide smile spread across his face as he was able to use his words again. Turning the smile a little cheeky he held out his left hand and wiggled the fingers at Jake. Jake laughed at that and pulled the ring out of the keychain. He pulled Cougar’s hand closer and then leaned down and kissed the third finger just like Cougar had and then slid the ring over where he had kissed.

“Now I really am the luckiest man alive.” Jake said almost reverently as he placed his keys back in his pocket and hit a button on his phone. Cougar heard music start to come from an outdoor speaker system as Jensen pulled Cougar into his arms.

“Dance with me?” Jensen asked as he was already shifting them to the music. Cougar reached up and laced his hands behind Jake’s neck, and Jake places his hands around Cougar’s waist. The lyrics washed over them as they rocked back and forth.

_I'm coming home_   
_I'm coming home_   
_Tell the world that I'm coming home_   
_Let the rain_   
_Wash away_   
_All the pain of yesterday_   
_I know my kingdom awaits_   
_And they've forgiven my mistakes_   
_I'm coming home_   
_I'm coming home_   
_Tell the world I'm coming_

They heard the door behind them open carefully, and Cougar could see Jillian carefully poking her head out. She saw the two of them dancing together and smiled. Before she could say anything Jewel burst out and looked around.

“Uncle Jake?” She started but then took in their happy faces and tilted her head in confusion. “What’s going on, Uncle Jake?”

“I don’t know,” Jake teased and then locked eyes with Cougar for a moment. There was a bright spark of love and mischief there for a moment before he turned to look at Jewel and put just a little space between Cougar and himself. “But why don’t you ask your Tío Carlos.”

That simple sentence knocked the air out of Cougar’s lungs. It hit him then that they really were going to get married or whatever the equivalent was. Jewel looked puzzled for a moment before a brilliant smile stole across her face, behind her Jillian smiled just as brightly and let out a happy laugh.

“It’s about time you made an honest man of him.” Jillian teased, before Jewel cut her off.

“I’ve been wanting to call him that for a long time now.” Jewel confessed reverently, looking like she was waiting for them to tell her it was just a joke. And then she was running and launched herself into Cougar and Jensen’s waiting arms. Behind her Jillian was laughing and then in a moment she joined them in the group hug. In that moment Cougar realized, he had a home and it was here with the people he loved best. After a lifetime of blood, violence, and loneliness, he had finally made it home.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this, I hope you enjoyed it. Honestly whole story was supposed to under 2000 words, but it got a little away from me. Also this is the fluffiest thing I have written in many, many years so hopefully it was ok.
> 
> Also I apologize for all the Captain America references but I have been on a Stucky (Steve and Bucky) kick, and it made me realize there are a lot of similarities between Jensen and Cougar and Stucky! 
> 
> As usual if there are any big grammar or spelling things please let me know as I have no beta reader.
> 
> Spanish translations:  
> Come- eat  
> Escucha- listen  
> Hola, Joyita- Hello, Little Jewel  
> Hola, Sr. Cougar- Hello, Mr. Cougar  
> Sí. Te amo por siempre y para siempre- Yes. I love you, forever and always.
> 
> Songs used:  
> She Blinded Me with Science-Thomas Dolby  
> The Safety Dance- Men Without Hats  
> I Hope You Dance- Lee Ann Womak  
> Butterfly Kisses- Bob Carlisle  
> I'm Coming Home part 2- Skylar Grey
> 
> I highly recommend checking out all these songs if you aren't familiar with any of them!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this. As I do not have a Beta-reader, if you see any mistakes, please let me know.
> 
> Spanish translation: Ellas son fuertes- They are strong.
> 
> The next part should be coming soon, and there will be so much fluff and sweetness in it that you may end up getting diabetes!


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